New Victory Theatre Will Present Stage Version of Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'

The Maurice Sendak Foundation announced that it has commissioned the first major and only full-length stage play adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. 

This stage adaptation follows a 1984 opera and 2009 film based on the classic children’s story. The New Victory Theater (a project of The New 42nd Street),New York City's premier performing arts nonprofit entirely devoted to kids and families, has committed to produce the play, marking its first foray into original production. The creative team for the production is in formation and will be announced at a later date.

The Foundation commissioned Sendak’s dear friend and collaborator, Arthur Yorinks, to write the script.

The Foundation remains steadfast in preserving Maurice Sendak’s artistic legacy and will remaster and reissue Sendak’s books with publishing partner HarperCollins in the coming years. Earlier this month, HarperCollins published Presto and Zesto in Limboland, a book discovered years after Sendak’s passing, co-authored by Arthur Yorinks. This is the third book collaboration for Yorinks and Sendak, predated by The Miami Giant (1995) and Mommy? (2006).

The University of Connecticut will house all Sendak’s book art in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection by March 2019. Construction on an archive attached to Sendak’s Connecticut home has also been completed and will open to the public, by appointment only, in late 2019. This archive will house the rest of Sendak’s art. Additionally, the Sendak Fellowship & Workshop that has been a part of the Foundation since Sendak was alive will continue in 2019, taking place on the grounds of his home.

For more information on The Maurice Sendak Foundation visit www.SendakFoundation.org. For more information on Yorinks visit www.arthuryorinks.com.

The New Victory Theatre is located at 209 West 42nd St., NYC.